Late last week, we learned that Matthew Morrison had been fired/let go from So You Think You Can Dance, where he was a “judge.” We were told that an “inappropriate relationship” with a contestant was at the root of his dismissal. I took that to mean that he was having a relationship with one of the contestants and perhaps showing bias (as a judge) towards the contestant. But the cover story didn’t tell the whole story. This was not a “relationship,” this was Matthew Morrison harassing a contestant after seeking her out on social media. The contestant showed the messages to producers and they thought it was “inappropriate.”
New details are emerging about Matthew Morrison’s sudden departure from his judging gig on So You Think You Can Dance. A source close to the Fox reality show tells PEOPLE that Morrison, 43, was fired from the series “after he had an inappropriate relationship with a female contestant.”
“They didn’t have sex, but he reached out to her through flirty direct messages on social media,” the source says. “She felt uncomfortable with his line of comments and went to producers, who then got Fox involved. He was fired after they did their own investigation.”
The source adds that Morrison and the unidentified female contestant “never met up off-set.”
“It was just messages that crossed the line,” the source notes. Reps for Morrison and Fox did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
News that the Tony Award-nominated Broadway star had exited SYTYCD broke on Friday, a little more than a week after the dance competition series aired its season 17 premiere on May 18. At the time, Morrison said in a statement to PEOPLE that he was leaving the show after failing to follow “competition production protocols.”
Again, this should not be called a “relationship.” This was a contestant existing online, and a person in a position of authority choosing to seek her out online and sexually harass her. That being said, I appreciate the fact that studios, networks and streamers are really starting to take sexual harassment, inappropriate behavior and abusive behavior seriously, even from their big-name “talent.” Even a few years ago, Morrison’s behavior would have likely been buried and covered up and he would have remained on the show. You can still see how producers are trying to obfuscate the nature of what Morrison did and how inappropriate it was, but hey, at least they actually fired him. Also: Morrison is still married to Renee Puente. Oof.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- Matthew Morrison at ‘The Greatest Dancer’ TV Show, Series 2 launch photocall, London, UK,Image: 541091153, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: James Shaw / Avalon
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- Matthew Morrison at ‘The Greatest Dancer’ TV show, final photocall, London, UK,Image: 563863507, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: James Shaw / Avalon
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- Matthew Morrison at ‘The Greatest Dancer’ TV show, final photocall, London, UK,Image: 563863559, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: James Shaw / Avalon
You can’t fix stupid……
Creepy!
Idiot move. That was the best job he could have hoped for and he ruined it within weeks.
Isn’t being a reality show judge a major step down for him in any case? With his talent and initial success, one would think he’d be aiming for/getting near Hugh Jackman-level stardom. Something started sinking his career just before his American Horror Story stint, and it was probably crap like this. (I’ve heard vague rumors about him, but haven’t followed him that closely to be sure.)
I’m thinking that he’s been problematic and messy for a while.
J-Lo was a reality show judge. I don’t know if this type of job would be considered a step down anymore. It probably leads to better opportunities later on with the name recognition and exposure. And it pays well. I can’t believe he messed this up.
Thinking—but aren’t most reality show judges long-time established stars (like J-Lo) or B/C-list celebrities? It just seems like a curious move for someone who should be taking advantage of his dancing/ musical talents, which generally have a shelf life. I would have thought he’d be back on Broadway—or doing movies.
I have always gotten skeevy vibes from him.
I’ve never seen him before, but the header made me utter, “Weasel.”
Yep. He’s always given creep vibes.
He has always given off smug, I’m so talented vibes. Reminiscent of Justin Timberlake. The character of Will Schuester was horrible and creepy too. I’m glad the person he harassed stood up for themselves and I hope his wife is okay.
I agree, he seems to think highly of himself. He’s a B list performer who fancies himself A list.
I feel sorry for his wife. She had several miscarriages and the youngest is not even a year old.
He’s married?!
Ick and good for the contestant for speaking out and establishing boundaries! I’m glad it was taken seriously. The ” “still married” part is what clearly makes it inappropriate to me. Prior to reading that last part of this article it did make me wonder though “ at which point does flirting cross over to harassment?”. I was reading this (to be fair, without knowledge of what was communicated) reminded that as a foreigner living in the US in my youth I’d often been confused or unsuccessful getting romantic relationships off the ground because in mine and many cultures outside of it, guys are more clear in expressing their interest. Here I’ve lost count of the many times someone tells me, after the fact, that I was being flirted with or a guy mistook my friendliness as flirtation.
Again, we absolutely do not know what the communication was. She could have asked him to stop and he persisted and in this situation he was married and that in and of itself makes flirting inappropriate in my opinion. But what is appropriate flirting in this day and age and what isn’t (I thought sliding into DMs was common and acceptable and I happen to think sending unsolicited nudes or porn is in the same ballpark as indecent exposure and I’m sure I’m in the minority there)? What are the current rules about acceptable/appropriate flirting?
Considering he was a judge in an active competition that recipient was competing in, the amount of appropriate offline communication is zero. This isn’t two random people – he was in a position of power and knew it. This isn’t a normal flirting situation, even setting aside the married issue.
Also, he is an idiot.
Well they had a professional relationship so any flirting should be considered inappropriate.
He’s married & his private communications were unwelcome.
I have a feeling they messages may have been more than a bit of harmless flirting. If the contestant had to show them to producers she clearly must have had concerns. He may have been fishing for sex thinking these contestants would do anything to please him. He also may have done this before and been told off. So I definitely think there is more to this than what we’re being told.
What everyone above said. Plus, this could be considered favoritism since he is a judge, judging her against other contestants. Any advocacy he did for her could be construed as tainting and tipping the competition in her favor. If she wanted to win on her own merits there’s no way she’d want a judge promising her favorable critiques in exchange for sexual favors.
Being in a position of power over someone in your place of business and striking up a relationship is a big no. But if you both have to have each other it must be disclosed to HR. He was just being creepy and inappropriate on every level and deserves his firing and not hiring in all his future endeavors.
He’s always given me the creep and now it all makes sense. Isn’t he married?
Yep and they have 2 kids! The little one is 11 months old
Why is it OK to frame a man messaging a woman as “an inappropriate relationship “that’s not a relationship that’s “ONE SIDED harassment”. That’s like saying these random rejects from Instagram who DM me I’m in a relationship with them now I protest this line of talk. It’s like saying “under age bride” (aka abused child bride) like he is an abuser
He’s always seemed creepy to me so this news is not surprising.
How dumb can you be to post those kinds of messages to social media?
Creepy as hell! This has to stop.
Does flirty texts = di€k picks?
Thank you for using that symbol as the c. That made my freakin’ day!
While I feel very badly for the victim of his harassment, it is refreshing to see people handle this properly – she was brave enough to report his behavior, and it was taken seriously and met with consequences. I don’t know that would have happened in the past.
What dumb, skeevy behavior. Those reality judge jobs have to be the cushiest work around, and he blew it because he couldn’t not harass women.
#creep
It is honestly remarkable how many entitled men cannot seem to maintain professional behavior in the workplace and have to make women uncomfortable. They expect to get away with it. I’m glad I’m this case he didn’t.
I agree. That he thought he’d get away with it shows an incredible amount of entitlement.
Creepy guy creeping. At least he was shown the door, so, yay?
I’m a little weirded out by the show graphic looking like a truck mupflap. There are so many creative ways to capture the beauty of dance without feeding the very eclectic that we are discussing in this thread.
I didn’t even see that in the background. Gross. Seems like they could have picked someone twirling or maybe a couple dancing or just anything less like the mudflap graphic.
Agreed–that looks right tacky.
I noticed it too!!! Poor choice for the graphic.
That Glee show has had bad juju since it ended. One bad story after another.
Yeah, what was the deal with that show? Too many uber-toxic personalities mixed together? Or is the devil coming round to collect on debts? 🙄 (I only saw an ep. here and there after its run, so I’m not up on the off-camera drama at the time.)
It’s less off-camera drama and more what has happened to the cast. There’s a lot of really tragic coincidence with Naya and Cory, but the spectrum from a Matthew Morrison to a Mark Salling just smacks of disgusting.
Thanks, Swiftcreekrising! I was pretty much raised watching TV, but I honestly can’t think of another show whose cast had this much disaster happen post-series. Very weird.
I was just thinking that. Between the tragedies (Cory, Naya), mark Salling’s child porn arrest and suicide, the toxic behavior of Lea Michele and now MM…. I can’t even look at that show.
I watched the first two episodes of SYTYCD this season before knowing anything about MM leaving the show (getting fired) and was thinking he seemed to be a good choice for a new judge. Now, it’s hard to watch the remaining audition episodes that he’’s in without wondering if he’s leching after the women who are auditioning.